Health services need to be re-established as 1M people returning to south, east Lebanon after cease-fire: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday underlined the importance of re-establishing health services in south and east Lebanon as a million people are returning after the Israel-Lebanon cease-fire deal.

Welcoming the truce, WHO representative in Lebanon Abdinasir Abubakar told a press briefing in Geneva that the cease-fire provides an "opportunity and critical window" to address the urgent humanitarian needs.

"The scale of the healthcare challenge remains enormous, and from now until the next few months, we have to try to re-establish the health services in the conflict-affected areas," Abubakar said, adding that almost a million people are moving back to the south and the east.

The cease-fire deal took effect early Wednesday, ending more than 14 months of cross-border warfare between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

More than 3,800 people were killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and over 1 million displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Responding to Anadolu's question, Nabil Tabbal, WHO's health information and risk assessment officer, said the agency recorded 160 attacks on health care since the beginning of the conflict, which led to the killing of 241 people and injured close to 300.

He added almost 10% of the hospitals were affected by such attacks, becoming either completely non-operational or able to operate partially.

- 'Attention must urgently move to Gaza'

Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Program Michael Ryan also welcomed the cease-fire, but said a quick shift in attention is needed as the situation in Gaza is "catastrophic."

"The attention must now move urgently to Gaza. We have to stop the fighting in Gaza," Ryan said. "The situation is catastrophic. The (health) system is under huge pressure."

"It's really important that whatever has been achieved now is secured in the Lebanon-Israel conflict, but that we have the same process achieved as quickly as possible for Gaza," he added.

Israel has killed more than 44,300 people since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and has left the enclave in ruins that could take years to rebuild. Efforts for a cease-fire in the territory have failed thus far.